From the United Kingdom to Australia, via France and Tunisia, thousands of demonstrators defied the authorities' calls to stay at home because of the coronavirus health crisis in an unprecedented protest movement against police violence and the racism that is grafted on to that which set the United States ablaze after the murder of the African-American George Floyd by white police on May 25 in Minneapolis.
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Paris, France
© GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP
More than 23,300 people marched Saturday afternoon in several cities in France against police violence and racism, according to figures from the Interior Ministry. Including 17,800 demonstrators in the provinces, and 5,500 in Paris, where three rallies had been banned due to health restrictions limiting gatherings to 10 people.
Washington, United States
© OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
Thousands of Americans demonstrated on Saturday in Washington, Philadelphia and New York against racism and police brutality on a day marked by a new ceremony in memory of George Floyd. Under a blazing sun, sometimes stopping to put a knee on the ground, a dense crowd gathered in the American federal capital, in the streets leading to the White House but also around the Capitol and the Lincoln memorial.
Brisbane, Australia
© PATRICK HAMILTON / AFP
In Australia, the first country to open the international ball of indignation on Saturday, thousands of people demonstrated across the country, holding up banners "I can't breathe", in reference to the complaint made by George Floyd, whose his neck was obstructed for almost nine minutes by the knee of the police officer who arrested him for a minor crime. For the organizers, this affair finds many echoes in their country: they also wanted to denounce the very high imprisonment rate among the Aborigines, and the deaths, more than 400 in the last thirty years, of members of this community while they were detained by the police. Like here in Brisbane.
London, UK
© DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
After several hours of peaceful assembly, incidents broke out at the end of the day near Downing Street in central London. Projectiles like bottles were launched on the police who loaded on horseback in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators. Gathered before near the nearby Parliament, thousands of people, their faces often covered with a mask, but without necessarily respecting the rules of distancing, had held up signs with the slogan "Black Lives Matter" (Black lives matter).
Leverkusen, Germany
© MATTHIAS HANGST / POOL / AFP
In Germany, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched across the country in the afternoon. The players of Bayern Munich, the championship leader, also showed their solidarity by warming up on Saturday with a t-shirt bearing the inscription "Red card against racism - BlackLiveMatters", before the Bundesliga match against Leverkusen. Like gardener Sven Ulreich in the photo.
Tunis, Tunisia
© FETHI BELAID / AFP
In Tunis, Tunisia, around 200 people claimed to be able to "breathe" in the face of racism, which "suffocates" in this country where migrants from sub-Saharan Africa often claim to be victims of verbal and physical assault.
Warsaw, Poland
© WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP
In Warsaw, a thousand people, often young and dressed in black, marched, especially in front of the American embassy, and were joined by the left presidential candidate Robert Biedron, his face masked. "I am with those who demonstrate in the United States, certainly. But I am also here for the well-being of my children, for the future of this country, because I want it to be open and tolerant," said said Lidia Nwolisa, who heads an association against discrimination.
Ottawa, Canada
© DAVE CHAN / AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined thousands of protesters in Ottawa on Friday to speak out against racism and police violence and knelt down several times during the protest.